The Recruiting Roller Coaster

As the nation found out on Monday afternoon the recruiting campaign does not officially end until singing day in February.

Clemson's Head Coach Tommy Bowden was asked to step down as the skipper after opening the highly-anticipated season with a 3-3 record. As a result of his firing, ESPN reported two of Clemson's 2009 verbal commitments (Devonte Holloman and Craig Loston) decided to withdraw their verbal pledges from the Tigers at least for the time being.

Coincidentally those were two recruits coach Les Miles and his staff had their eyes set on since day one. By keeping contact with the two prospects throughout the entire 2009 campaign it looks as if LSU has a shot at landing at least one, if not both of them.

Loston is a recruit that is impossible to reach by land, air, and sea. It appears he keeps his feelings and his thoughts as close to the vest as possible. However, TigerRag.com did manage to catch up with someone who is not only known as LSU's co-recruiting coordinator, but also Loston's cousin.

Craig Loston (Photo courtesy of Rivals.com)

This is what Russell Shepard had to say regarding the firing of coach Bowden and LSU chances of landing Loston.

"However, I think the loss to Florida brought us (LSU) a couple of notches down with (Andre)Debose, (Jon) Bostic, and (Ray Ray) Armstrong, but the firing brought us a couple of notches up with Craig. So in the end it will probably even out."

Then Shepard went on to say, "I think Craig is just focused on football right now and his season. "I think he is going to wait and chill before he makes his decision. I think he just wants to play football right now. I think we'll hear something around mid-November or December."

If Shepard's estimate of Loston stands correct, that does not necessarily count out safety Devonte Holloman.
"I think we (LSU) would definitely take both of them if they wanted to come to LSU," Shepard claimed. "I think with us not taking a tight-end in this year's recruiting class that should open up room for the both of them.

"From the film I've seen on Holloman and from what Craig has told me, Holloman is an amazing talent," Shepard added. "He plays with aggressiveness and has a lot of speed."

Holloman followed Loston's lead in backing out on his Clemson commitment. On Tuesday, Hollomon's South Pointe-Rock Hill (S.C.) teammate, running back Stephan Gilmore, committed to South Carolina. Holloman was present for the press conference when Gilmore made his announcement.

It is probably hard to believe with all of Shepard's recruiting chatter, but the five-star prospect actually has a season of his own to play. This week Shepard and his Cypress Ridge High School team will face off against Cypress Falls.

Another recruit that had a close eye on the LSU vs. Florida game was linebacker Jon Bostic. The Palm Beach Central High School product was in attendance for the SEC showdown and this is what he had to say regarding the outcome of the game concerning LSU and its 2009 recruiting efforts.

"I do not think it will have too much of an effect," Bostic claimed. "LSU is still a good team and they still have good coaches. They are just kind of rebuilding right now and the quarterback situation is hurting them."

Bostic claimed the outcome came as bit of a surprise, but not enough to cause an early, emotional decision. He informed TigerRag.com he intends on taking trips to Florida State, LSU (Oct. 24th), and maybe to Clemson before reaching his final decision. But before that the 4-star prospect is curious to see how the Tigers will respond to their let down as they take on the Gamecocks this weekend.

"I'm really kind of interested to see how LSU is going to respond to that loss," Bostic stated. "It should be another good game because South Carolina's defense is better at stopping I-formation teams.

"LSU should respond well though," Bostic continued. "And if they could win that game, then beat Georgia and Alabama, I think that would not only help them with recruiting, but I think it would give them a shot at making it to the SEC championship game."